Third Time’s the ‘Chore’: Colorado’s "Special Session" Farce

The term "special" would seem to indicate an event that happens outside of the norm, perhaps better or more important than usual, or distinguished by some sort of unique quality. 

Colorado’s latest “special” session wasn’t special at all - it was a scripted, six‑day tax‑and‑spend spree that left small businesses reeling, taxpayers paying more, and the state’s budget hole untouched.

The call from the Governor to form a special session even dripped with progressive rhetoric, seeking to blame the passage of HR1 for Colorado's ongoing financial woes. 

One stated intent of the majority party was to "raise revenue", which we all know means to simply "raise taxes". Lawmakers gutted tax breaks for small businesses and insurance companies, wiped out incentives for entrepreneurs, and operated in open defiance of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).

Take, for instance, the elimination of the vendor fee. This was a modest compensation to retailers to help offset the costs associated with the administrative work of collecting and remitting state sales tax. It is a mechanism that has been adjusted several times through the years with one recent change in 2020 exempting very large companies (retailers with $1,000,000 or more in total taxable sales, annually) and allowing qualifying retailers the ability to keep up to 4% of the state sales tax collected, capped at $1,000 per filing period (typically monthly).  

Small businesses, small retail locations, family restaurants, etc., have been in an untenable financial position due to onerous regulations placed on them by state legislature. Colorado is the 6th most regulated state in the country, and estimates are that over 40% of those regulations are duplicative. Restaurants operate on very thin margins to begin with and removing the vendor fee is yet another blow to their strained operations. Beginning January 1, 2026, that offset vendor fee will be eliminated altogether. 

When a bill is presented for consideration, it is accompanied by a fiscal note, or a "pink sheet". This fiscal note shows what the budget impact is expected to be for that particular piece of legislation. The effort to repeal the vendor fee will actually create additional costs to Colorado through a demand to increase full-time employees. Why? Because the anticipation is the repeal of the vendor fee will cause so much confusion come tax filing time that the Department of Revenue will need to hire 1.3 full-time employees to handle incoming phone calls and pleas for assistance. This is not "raising revenue", it is an ill-designed cut to small businesses while further bloating government and increasing costs. 

But what about the wolves? Well, like any typical majority party bill the title betrays the truth. On the surface, rerouting money from a miserably managed wolf reintroduction program would seem to make sense. First, keep in mind the wolf reintroduction was a ballot measure Colorado voters decided on. There was never a stated mechanism to allow for future diversion of dollars as part of that ballot measure. Legislature sticking their fingers in a funding mechanism approved for a specific purpose, to fund insurance programs, is murky practice at best. Consider also where the money is headed - to the Colorado Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise. Remember that any "enterprise" is actually a way to subvert the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. This particular enterprise acts as a mechanism to raise costs for people that do not directly benefit from its program through increased taxes or "fees". 

The HIAE funds the state's reinsurance program. It taxes roughly 1.2 million Coloradans covered under employer insurance to help pay for 300,000 individuals purchasing insurance programs on the open market. Within the HIAE resides Colorado's Omnisalud program, a state initiative using taxpayer funds to provide subsidized health insurance to illegal immigrants, to include abortion services. Again, hardworking Colorado families are forced to pay for social entitlement programs that many have fundamental disagreements with. 

I was a "no" vote on this measure, despite my concerns with a poorly managed wolf reintroduction program. I will continue to vote "no" on any measure that funds Omnisalud and the effort to favor illegal immigrants over legal residents desperately in need of services they are unable to attain but yet are compelled to pay for so others may benefit.  

Let's not overlook the great Planned Parenthood Payout. Colorado is staring down yet another budget shortfall as deep as $1.2 billion. Yet the majority sent $4.3 million to Planned Parenthood - an organization with $2.3 billion in assets and up to $750 million in liquid reserves. The justification? Federal funding cuts. The reality? A political favor to a major campaign donor. Why send $4.3 million to an organization sitting on nearly $750 million in reserves while we continue to drown in red ink? 

One bright spot, though - the AI delay. Senate Bill 24‑205, a burdensome AI regulation set to take effect in February 2026, was delayed to June 2026. This gives lawmakers the 2026 regular session to fix its costly compliance issues. Make no mistake - the majority fears AI’s efficiency and its resistance to progressive policy programming. This will be one of the major issues debated in the next session, so stay tuned for much, much, more. 

There will likely be many legal challenges to the bills passed that circumvent the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The majority party continues to believe "TABOR is the reason we can't have nice things" instead of addressing runaway spending and uncontrolled government growth.

In conclusion, the (not so) special session was political theater designed to further a false narrative that Congressional Republicans are to blame for Colorado's unrestrained government growth and subsequent budget difficulties. Their lack of bipartisan efforts (all but one Republican bill saw an immediate death on day one) has left Colorado's structural deficit unresolved with taxpayers slapped with an increased tax burden and costs. 

Colorado doesn’t need more “special” sessions. It needs leaders willing to solve problems without raiding taxpayers’ pockets.